Upon Closer Look, It's Same Old Bulls

Tiny Crowd Gets Good View Of Loss

December 12, 2000|By K.C. Johnson, Tribune Staff Writer.

At the first timeout of Phoenix's 86-80 victory over the Bulls on Monday night, the fans who actually made it to the United Center were invited by management to come down from the balconies and sit in the 100-level seats.

Like some frenzied game of musical chairs, they obliged, proving there truly is a fine line between loyalty and masochism.

All that the more expensive seats provided was a closer view of the same tired story, the overmatched Bulls losing their sixth straight game to a superior opponent. At least the ridiculous elements added some off-the-court intrigue.

Officially a crowd of 20,962 will go down in the history books as witness to this game. Unofficially minus the thousands of season-ticket and suite holders that automatically are figured into attendance, Monday night likely featured the smallest Bulls crowd since March 3, 1987, when 11,915 came to Chicago Stadium to see a 114-80 victory over the Clippers.

The weather was so bad and the crowd so small--most estimated it at the 5,000 to 6,000 range--that it unofficially was the first time the Bulls failed to crack 10,000 fans since 8,649 watched a March 13 victory over Denver in 1986.

The weather forced the Suns, who played in Toronto Sunday afternoon, to cancel their Monday morning shootaround even though they arrived in town with ease Sunday night. Instead the team had a film session and walk-through in coach Scott Skiles' hotel suite.

Phoenix guard Mario Elie joked that the mandatory session forced him to leave his hotel room for the first time. Elie and teammate Tony Delk had wanted to go shopping on Michigan Avenue but refused to brave the elements. They blamed rookie guard Paul McPherson, a Chicago native, for the weather.

The Bulls had nobody to blame for this defeat but themselves.

Leading 57-52 with 4 minutes, 48 seconds to play in the third quarter, the Suns ripped off a 12-0 run to end the stanza. Quiet in the first half with just three shots and four points, Jason Kidd led the charge.

He hit Elie for a three-pointer. He scored over Khalid El-Amin. Tom Gugliotta tipped in a Tony Delk miss. Kidd scored again on a nifty, fast-break layup. Delk fed Cliff Robinson for another three-pointer, after which the Phoenix forward turned and laughed at the Bulls' bench.

Phoenix then scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to extend the run to 19-0 before Ron Mercer finally hit a jumper at the 10-minute mark. In all the Bulls went 6:48 without scoring.

The Bulls jazzed the crowd, such as it was, with a fourth-quarter rally. Trailing 73-61, the Bulls went on a 12-2 run to pull within 75-73 on Mercer's free throw off a Robinson technical foul.

But Brand missed a jumper that could've tied the game and--guess who?--Kidd fed Rodney Rogers for a short jumper.

Gugliotta followed a Mercer miss with another jumper and Phoenix led the rest of the way.

Robinson led the Suns with 24 points before fouling out with 4:19 remaining. Rogers flirted with a triple double--Kidd territory--before settling for 17 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

Kidd added 12 points, six rebounds and 13 assists of his own.

Mercer led the Bulls with 26 points, but he also had six turnovers and fouled out. Brand contributed 23 points and 11 rebounds.

Rookie Marcus Fizer didn't play, his first "Did Not Play--Coach's Decision" of the season.

Not to get too metaphysical, but if a Bulls' victory occurs and nobody is in the 300 level to witness it, does it still count in the standings?

Phoenix eliminated the need for an answer. Still, fans who attended Monday's game can mail their ticket stubs into the Bulls and get a free ticket to a future home game.